THUNDER BAY – Shelter House’s SOS van is back on the road, filling the gap it left behind three years ago.
After being discontinued in September 2022 because of a lack of funding, the Street Outreach Service program, is now operating seven nights a week, 365 days a year from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.
The return of the SOS program was a priority for Shelter House and Brendan Carlin when he was hired as executive director of the organization a year ago.
“We’ve just spent the last year planning, getting things together and getting it back on the road,” he said.
The van, which was donated by the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 175 and 633 in 2020, will be used to transport vulnerable community members and offer supports directly to them. The program will help divert people from the emergency room, transfer them between shelters, offer emergency supplies, distribute harm reduction supplies, crisis support, snacks and just supportive listening.
Carlin said the SOS program is important for Thunder Bay, filling a gap in the evening hours for those in need of support services, even if it’s just food and water.
“Some people are out – they’re in the bush or way up Arthur Street – and they’re not close to any services, so to have this available just so that they know it’ll be by every night and they’ll get some food or water and maybe transportation to the hospital if they need it or if they need to go to the shelter,” he said.
The program is also another option for people who may have trust issues with institutions like the hospital or the police.
“People have gone through trauma and they’ve been in the hospital lots of times. They may have a distrust of institutions, rightly or wrongly, so just having a consistent presence that’s not asking anything of them, just talking with them . . . over time hopefully we can build that trust, have those conversations at which point they can maybe be referred to services,” said Carlin.
The program is being funded by the Thunder Bay District Social Services Administration Board, Lakehead Social Planning Council and the Thunder Bay Indigenous Friendship Centre. The DSSAB is providing $75,000 in annual funding with the LSPC also providing $75,000 and the Friendship Centre giving $100,000.
The Lakehead Social Planning Council was involved with the SOS program when it first launched in 2013 and director of projects and community initiatives, Bonnie Krysowaty, said the program was always well-used by different organizations from the hospital, police, paramedics to community organizations and businesses.
“Some months there were almost 1,000 transports,” she said, adding some months police and paramedics were making up to 70 referrals per month.
“We really saw the value in the program,” Krysowaty said. “We also know there is not a lot of outreach for people that happens after hours beyond the 9 to 5 kind of work day.”
Carlin added the SOS program has funding for two staff members for the 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. shifts and they also have a part-time staff member and a few casual staff members to fill in any gaps.
The program will also help alleviate some stress off of the Care Bus when it runs in the winter months, he said.
The Care Bus is supposed to be just one route, but they’re often called to go off route for people needing help.
“Now when the Care Bus is back on the road, they'll be able to do their route and then the SOS van can handle those different incidents,” Carlin said.
The SOS van staff can be reached at 807-620-7678 from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. daily.
